Canberra Cake Club: Cocktails

On Saturday, the third meeting of the Canberra Cake Club was held at Mint Garden Bar in Braddon. The theme for this month’s Cake Up was cocktails, and as you can see, the club put on a great spread of boozy delights.

I decided to make one of my favourite drinks – Pimms and Lemonade – in to a cupcake creation. Here’s how they turned out:

I couldn’t find one particular recipe that I was happy with, so I decided to base my Pimms Cupcakes on a few different recipes from:

Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat the butter, sugar and desired amount of Pimms until very light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well before adding the next.

Carefully fold in the sifted flour (and baking powder if using).

Taste the batter and add more Pimms if desired.

Bake in the oven for 10 – 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check to see if the Pimms cupcakes are ready by inserting a cocktail stick into one of the cupcakes. If it comes out dry then the cupcakes are done. If not, then back in the oven for a few minutes more. Don’t overcook the cupcakes otherwise they will dry out.

Lift the Pimms cupcakes out of the muffin tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Whilst they are still warm, poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with a toothpick and drizzle ½ teaspoon of Pimm’s on each one. Leave to cool and infuse – preferably overnight as the flavour will be better.

Icing

(Note: I had intended to also put poprocks on top of my icing, to give it the bubbly ‘lemonade’ mouthfeel, but alas I could not find any at my local and of course I left it til the last minute!!!)

Ingredients:

60g butter

100g icing sugar

As much Pimms as you’re comfortable with

10 – 12 sliced Strawberries

Mint leaves

Juice of half an orange

Sliced Cucumber (for decoration, optional)

Half an orange (for decoration, optional)

Method:

Put the strawberries, orange juice, mint leaves and Pimm’s in a small saucepan and heat gently until the strawberries turn to mush.

Strain the strawberries through a sieve and keep both pulp and liquid.

Beat the icing sugar and butter together, add the pulp and a dash of the strawberry juice

Add more Pimm’s if desired. Beat until you have a thick smooth icing.

Spread the icing over each cake and decorate with cucumber, orange, strawberry and mint.

Notes: My icing didn’t turn out smooth or particularly pretty – hence me squishing it down with a cucumber slice – but it tasted awesome!